Hospitality at Sea World

...nearly forgot. This is something I didn%26#39;t know about before I went so this info might come in useful to a badly prepared tourist like myself.

Anheuser-Busch (sponsors of Sea World and brewers of beer) have a hospitality area in the park where you can sample their product range...for free! Well, the catch is you%26#39;re only supposed to be allowed 2 samples but that didn%26#39;t stop is spending 3 hours in there getting steaming...for free!

Hospitality at Sea World

LOL! We are frequent visitors to that very spot.

In addition to your ';two'; free samples at the main bar you can also make reservations to taste beer in the VIP Brewmasters Club (located inside the Hospitality Center). That is complimentary as well. And don%26#39;t forget to stop by the smaller bar to try out the new ';Spikes'; -- shots (mango, melon, hot chocolate and lime) that they pour into either Bud Light or Amberbock.

Hospitality at Sea World

Don%26#39;t worry, we tried the spykes - all of them! The only one that seemed to go was lime and light but they%26#39;re about 18% alcohol and free. The words ';Gift';, ';Horse'; and ';Mouth'; spring to mind.

You%26#39;re kidding right-they put hot chocolate flavoring in beer?Yuk.Even for free.

Anyway,this Hospitality area has been open for many years at Sea World and is a major attraction ,just like Shamu.

Yep, hot chocolate flavor in beer, usually in AmberBock but they%26#39;ll put it in Bud Light if you insist. People that like it say it tastes like a tootsie roll, but I%26#39;m not so crazy about it. Spicy Mango in Bud Light is my absolute favorite, and we%26#39;ve had them all many times. Spykes come in little glass bottles that they pour into a draft beer and contain flavor, ginseng, guarana, caffeine and 12% alcohol by volume. They are currently not for sale yet in liquor stores, but are available in test markets in some bars in the U.S. Except for the chocolate flavor, it doesn%26#39;t overwhelm the beer taste, but enhances it. Kind of like squeezing lime into a Corona -- it changes the flavor a bit, but still tastes like beer.

I thought the chocolate one was ok but Mango in beer just tasted like Southern Comfort...and me and Southern Comfort do not get on!!

Have to say, the hospitality area made a welcome change as I was getting absolutely sick fed up of all the usual Bud and Bud Light type beers. Became a big fan of AmberBock and since I got back at the weekend I%26#39;ve been trying to make up my own ';Irish Americans'; - with varying degrees of success!